All mods need a trial period.

I just bought some new mods and I am unhappy with some of them. There should be a mandatory trial period to let buyers test it to make sure it works as expected.

Or if not some sort of trail period, a real working demo site that we can really go in and make changes, add content, etc; like with the Dolphin demo site.  Set it up like the demo site so that it rebuilds every 30 minutes or so.

excuse me... LMAO

Not possible.

To do that the module vendors would have to encrypt the module and force a licensing system. This is very costly. It will drive up prices of the modules and if forced by boonex, you will see a drop in vendors providing modules, and perhaps some may even leave boonex.

Many members will then not buy the module because it is encrypted and many want the source(That has been discussed before). And offering an encrypted trial as well as a source version would increase costs even more.

I will eventually be setting up a demo server for my mods so they can be tested by the buyer before purchase. Some vendors already do this.

If i have to be forced to encrypt, i will may not continue to develop dolphin modules.


NOTE: If the module is not working as advertized, you should request a refund. Not working as advertized and not working as you would like are two different things.

 I am actually working on that for demoing(sp) my mods.

 Ok so trials won't work, but what about geek_girl's idea? An official dolphin demo site for mods.

 
Each vendor would have to provide their own demo site for their mods.

One site for all of the thousands of mods is also not possible, or practical.

Can you think of anything that would make the market better for developers and also better for buyers? Deano92964, you should make this happen. People really seem to listen to you. I know I do.

LOL.

Boonex does not listen to me. Suggestions have been made in the past by many of the regulars here. There are topics on it somewhere. Can't seem to find them at the moment.

I still have a free mod several of us tried to get added to dolphin. And it was never added. It kept getting pushed to a different version of dolphin. Now slated for dolphin 8. http://www.boonex.com/trac/dolphin/ticket/1578

I do not have very much pull here.

 yeah me too :D

Deano is 'the peoples boonex champion'! 

;-)

Aye, especially when many of those mods and modules are incompatible with each other.  It's more realistic to ask the developer for a demo to play around with, and most already offer this.  If the demo URL is dead, take that as a bad sign.

 I understand you approach, but how does IBDW do this for just about all their modules?

If IBDW were to go away, the activation would no longer work because they have to active via their servers; correct?

I have bought a couple and think about it all the time.

I got really burned by Beckmedia/Deartmedia/Jens because of such poor support, he got banned. So my very useful modules are no longer upgraded unless I do it, which I have to make them work with 7.1.x>

This is very true, Boonex does not listen to the community that is actually running real social sites using Dolphin and has a very real source of what is needed; from real life members saying, "Hey, this sucks, can you change it".  Take the awful, horrible, autopilot for the forums; we have yelled until we are hoarse and they just ignore what we have to say.  They could at least make a few changes we have mention.  Boonex is off building Dolphin 8 and do we have any input to drive the development?  No, none at all.  Boonex should be eager to listen to what our members are telling us about the Dolphin platform because it will make the platform better and increase the market share.

I've worked for several software houses, all multinationals, for over 15 years and know from experience that it's not always that easy to introduce new features or change existing ones. Many people make (many) suggestions and it's down to Boonex to decide which of the suggestions become features. Whatever choice you make, there will always be someone that can say "they don't listen to me". I can say they've acknowledged several of the bugs I reported, have responded to suggestions I made and don't feel ignored. Of course, not all my suggestions have been taken on board but that would be too much to ask.

With regards to the market, there is room for improvement but there is also the responsibility of the community. People have the option to review developers and products they buy. Unfortunately there are not many people who do this, giving some developers the change to bring rubbish modules on the market, that nobody needs. I've my own demo site where people can test my modules and if they, for some reason don't work on someone else's site I normally fix that within hours. This becomes clear when you read the review that people left when you look at my modules, or profile.

What I'm trying to say is, don't put the responsibility on someone else but look at the options that are available to you. Use those and I'm sure you will see improvements and the need for free trials is not needed. On the other hand, if there are issues with a mod you bought (and there is no feedback from anyone warning you) you can file a complaint. You should receive a full refund if the complaint is valid and the mod not modified to comply with what was written. The module should be removed and no new modules of such a developer should be accepted.

Take your own responsibility!

I think it is mildly amusing when you click on a Developers Demo site, and it is either a complete mess and nothing works or the Domain is Parked and there isn't even a Dolphin Site on it.

 Or when you buy the mod and try to install it, the mod is so amateur that it makes the site owner look like they don't know what they are doing. As in my case.

Conversely, if the demo site works well and allows you to confirm that the module will do what you expect it to then take that as a very good sign.  However still be cautious, I did experience a case last year where the demo site worked correctly but the downloaded module did not and the developer took forever to figure out they'd upgraded a JS file in their demo site but not in their downloadable module version.

I'd take that as a bad sign.